Adjustable phonograph repeater



June 16, 1 925.

S. E. M NULTY ADJUSTABLIE PHONOGRAPH REPEATER Filed Dec. 12. 1922 Arm/alarms Patented June 16, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

STERRETTE. McNULTY, or LOS ANGELEs, CALIFORNIA.

ADJUSTABLE ,PHONOGRAIPI-I REPEATER.

; Application filed December 12, 1922. Serial No. 606,412.-

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, STERRETT E. MCNULTY, a'citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, inthe county of Los Angelcs and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Adjustable PhonographRepeaters, of which the following is a specification.

My present invention relates to a repeating attachment for phonographs, and particularlyto an attachment which may be adjusted to adapt the same to disc records of different diameters, and to records whose selections begin and end at different dis tances from the edge and from the center of the record. a

Itis another object of my invention to combine" with an attachment of the general character mentioned a secondor auxiliary device comprising an arm which may be so set as to engage the needle of a phonograph as the same shall traverse a guideway comprised in the mentioned attachment, and thereby cause the phonograph to stop, and I may construct this second or auxiliary device in such a form as to permit of its being fitted at will upon certain repeaters such as are already known andobtainable upon the market, and in use.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a repeating attachment of the character referred to in which adjustments can be simply and rapidly made, and in which there shall be such a positioning and balancing of parts that, although the normal travel of the needle of the reproducer shall not be interfered with during the rendering of any selection, nevertheless the needle shall be infallibly lifted from the record whenever the selection shall have been completely rendered, and shall thereafter be cammed either into a position suitable for a repetition of the selection or into a position adapted to stop the machine, ac cording to the wish of the operative in charge.

It is a further object of my invention to provide an adjustable attachment of the character referred to which may be pro duced and'sold at moderate cost, but which shall nevertheless be-attractive' in appearance and free from liability to derangement, all parts being preferably secured together in a. unitary structure which may be mounted aboveany ordinary record and satisfactorily centered by the projecting of the usual ce'nter pin therethrough.

Further objects of my invention will appear from the following description and the claims appended thereto, it being understood that in the said description one preferred embodiment of my invention is presented by way of example, various features of my device being capable of independent use and various features of mydevice being capable of independent use and various modifications being possible without departure from the spirit of my invention, as the same is indicatedin and by the said claims.

a In generahthe device upon which protection is being sought comprises a plate of sheet metal or like material adaptedto be so mounted above a recording disc phonograph record that, as longas the needle of a reproducer shall be engaged by and traveling in usual spiral round-producing groove, the said disc will beheld stationary by contact of the said needle with a tractor arm anountcd adjustably upon said disc, as may be fully understood from the following description and the accompanying drawings in which- Figure 1 is a ing attachment.

Fig. 2 is an edgeview of the same as seen from the right of Fig. 1. a

Fig. 3 is an underneath or bottom plan of the angularly and slidably adjustable radial guide or tractor.

Fig. 4 is across section. online 4-4 of plan view of my repeat- Filg 1.. I

ig. 5 is a side elevation of the automatic stop as shown in Fig. 1. i a

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of a stop at tachment adapted to be readily applied to a form of repeater now on the market and in use.

The device as shown consists of a structure operatingsubstantially as a bridge to lift the stylus or needle N of a phonograph as the needle aproaches the inner end of a record groove and 'to transfer the lifted needle again to an outer position to be replaced in the leading end of the groove so that" the record will be replayed. The bridge structure is embodied in the form of a segmental generally flat main plate 2 having at oneend a generally radial lip 3 merging with a cross piece 4 in which is formed a center socket or ferrule 5 designed to slip down over the usual centering pin P of the turntable T of a phonograph, which turntable is rotatable in the usual manner so as to carry the record disc D in the direction as shown in Fig. 1 by the arrow thereon.

The bridge plate 2 is provided with an outer marginal guide wall or flange 2 and an inner guide wall or flange 2 which gradually diverge from the outermost portion of the lip 3; the flanges 2 and 2 terminating t th e d 2 of the curv d bridge plate 2. Forming an adjustable continuation of the r ed and flanged pa t, o the bridge plate, here is pi etally onne ted as on a pivotpin .(3 a segmentalguide forming section 7 having generally plane bottom and outer and inner guide walls 7 and 7 terminating in a slightly downwardly curved drop 011' end 7.

The broad object of this construction is to provide for the adjustment of the guide sec-. tion 7 to an inner position shown in full lines in Fig. l for use with small or ten inch records, and to an outer position shown in dotted lines for use in conjunction with larger or twelve inch records so that when the needle N has traversed inwardly toward the center of the disc and completes the playing of a record, then it will be lifted by the lip 3, as will be explained hereinafter, and when the bridge plate 2 is turned with the disc D, the lifted needle Willtraverse the top plane face of the guides 2 and 7 and be carried outwardly to the position shown in Fig. 1 and dropped from the dropping off end 7 in proximity to the initial groove of the record so that the needle will be automatically replaced to repeat.

To smooth out any sharp angles that may be produced the angular adjustment of the adjustable guide section 7 about its pivot 6, a flexible guide strip or track 8 is provided to reach across the end of the guide section 2 and onto the contiguous pivoted end of the adjustable section 7.

Means are provided for fastening the guide sections in relatively adjusted position, and such means comprise a slotted arm 9 secured to the inner side of the adjustable section 7 and curved concentric to the pivot 6 and reaching under a tie or brace 10 connecting the cross piece 4, and the outer end of the bridge plate 2. Passing through the tie or brace 10 and the slotted arm 9 is a frictional clamp screw 11.

In operation, the transferring bridge or plate 2- is deposited on top ofthe record discD and is. centered on. theturntable pin P, and the sound box needle N of the reprodurer is posit oned at t e outermos gr o e of the record on the disc, at this time the needle is in free sliding engagement with stop her ha ing, pr f rab y a straight edge against which theneedle will bear and along w ich he needle slides gradually inward While it follows the spiral record groove. Therefore, the needle serves as means for holding the transferring bridge plate 2 against rotation with the disc upon which it rests and is preferably provided with soft foot pads 12, as of felt.

The stop bar 13 is here shown as being adjustably connected as by a pivot 14 provided on the outer end of the adjustable cam or guideway section 7, the object of the pivotal adjustment being to enable the stop bar 1 o be pos tioned substantially radial as to the pin P when theadjustable guideway se tion 7 is in its inne or in its outermost positions. Means are also provided for substan i y a t ma ically l ng or y eldingly latching the adjustable stop bar 13 in one or another of its two positions, and such means is clearly shown in the underneath plan, Fig. 3, as including a finger 15 having a lug on its outer end which is adapted to spring into one or another of sockets or indentations provided on the contiguous bottom face of an outwardly extending flange 7 of the section 7.

In the playing of the larger records, it is desirable to shift the stop bar l3 inwardly so as to provide a suitable effective length for supporting the needle end while it is traversing the spirial groove centripetally, and, therefore, the stop, bar 13 is here shown as being slidably mounted on the primary part or carrying arm 13.

Preferably, the device is slightly overbalanced so as to tilt when free of the needle end downwardly on the lip side 3 to insure the bridge passing in under the needle when this is positioned at the inner end of the record grove and clears the inner end of the stop bar 13, and the bridge plate is, therefore, tiltable on a line radially from the center pin P of the table through a fulcruln pin F provided on the outwardly e3;- tending bracket arm 4. 'lherefore, while the needle N is in. engagement with the stop bar 13,, it ends to tilt, under the resistance of the needle downwardly, but as soon as the needle clears the inner end of the stop bar 13, the overbalanced lip side of the bridge plate is free to fall a slight degree down toward the record so. as to be in position to sweep under the needle as the, lip edge 3 swings in the direction of the arrow (1 around o he edl N after the bridging plate has been released from the needle and is then free to be carried with the turning record: upon which it rests. As soon as the leading lip 3 of the bridging plate picks up the needle the latter enters the guideway between the side flanges 2? and 2 and one or the other of these, as the case may be, serves as a cam to shift the needle N with the tone arm of the phonograph out to the-adjustable guide: way section 7 and this in turn carries the need e st ll fu he out until. it is deposited.

Fit)

over the drop oif end 7 back onto the outer portion of the record, spiral groove in such position as to immediately begin reproducm IX feature of the invention consists in the provision of means with the guide plate for automatically stopping the rotation of the record and the turntable when so desired, and in Figs. 1, 2 and 5 the stopping means includes a brake block secured in a downwardly turned arm 21 which is pivoted at 22 on the outturned flange 7 of the guideway 7 The brake lever arm 21 is normally thrown to an outer position so as to clear the contiguous peripheral edge of the disc D,

, but when it is desired to stop the disc and turntable, the brake lever arm 21 with the brake block 20 is adapted to be adjusted inwardly toward the rim of the disc and to be effectually applied automatically, after it has been so adjusted, by the needle N. For this purpose the brake lever arm 21 has an inwardly extending lever arm or handle portion 23 projecting over the flange 7 of the guideway section 7 and being of such length as to extend across the guide flanges 7 and 7 as is shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1. When so inwardly disposed, it will be seen that after the needle has traversed the complete record and is picked up by the lip 3 of the guide plate the latter throws the needle N outwardly .until it abuts against the inwardly adjusted striking lever 23 and this serves to instantly set the brake block 20 against the rim of the disc and, therefore, stops rotation of the same.

I have shown in Fig. 6 a slightly modified form of the automatic stopping device that is adapted for attachment to repeating devices, such as have already been completed and are in use. In this form the brake lever 21 is pivoted on a block 25 adapted to be applied under the flange '7 of the repeater, and over the top of this flange there is adapted to be snapped a clamp leaf or finger 26 secured to the block 25 and providing a space for the reception of the guideway flange, as clearly shown in Fig. 6.

Further embodiments, modifications and changes may be resorted to within the spirit of the invention as here claimed.

What is claimed is:

1. In a repeating attachment for a phonograph, a main plate provided with a needlelifting blade and comprising one section of a guideway formed in two sections capable of relative movement.

2. In a repeating attachment for a phonograph, a main plate provided with a needlelifting blade and comprising one section of a guideway formed in two sections capable of relative movement, said sections being pivotally connected.

3. In a repeating attachment for a phonograph, a main plate provided with a needlelifting blade comprising one section of a guideway formed in two sections capable of relative movement, and means comprising a frictional clamp screw extending through a brace for securing said sections in an adjusted relationship.

4. In a repeating attachment for a phonograph, a main plate provided with a needle lifting blade and comprising one section of a guideway formed in two sections capable of relative movement, there being a needle engaging stop pivotally mounted at the end of one of said sections.

5. In a repeating attachment for a phonograph, a main plate provided with a needle-- liftin blade and comprising one section of a gui eway formed in two sections capable of relative movement, there being a needle engaging stop at the end of one of said sections to adapt the same to records of different widths, and said needle engaging stop being adapted to a corresponding adjustment.

6. In a repeating attachment for a phonograph, a main plate provided with a needlelifting blade and comprising one section of a guideway formed in two sections capable of relative movement, the outermost of said sectlons carrying means capable of adjustment to stop said machine.

7.. In a repeating attachment for a phonograph, a main plate provided with a needlelifting blade comprising one section of a needle guideway adapted to cam said needle toward the periphery of a record, and means comprising an arm capable of extending across said guideway for preventing movement of said record relatively to a needle guided thereby.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

STERRETT E. MONULTY. 

